"Okay, guys, where was I?" Branch said as Rhonda picked up the pace. "We gotta find our brothers, and fast. But don't worry. Old Branch's got it handled. All we have to do is follow the clues."
At that moment, Branch showed off his clue board to the rest of the group. It was covered in photos from old teen Troll magazines.
"Wowie!" Flower cooed, mesmerized by her father's way of thinking.
"I think my dad took private dance lessons from that woman," Willow said, pointing at a picture of a young Troll named Doreen, who had won a date with Spruce as part of a contest. Poppy, on the other hand, was more focused on the band themselves.
"Wow! Check out your old outfits!" she giggled. "Puffy jackets? Puka shell necklaces? Denim tuxedos?! Branch... did you have frosted tips?!"
"Yeah, it was an era," he sighed.
"You wooked pwetty!" Flower said sweetly.
Holding a cup of coffee, John Dory couldn't help but say, "Uh, don't forget his perm."
"No way!" Poppy exclaimed, grabbing his face. "Pictures, or it didn't happen!"
With a flick of his wrist, John Dory revealed a photo of Branch wearing his signature Bitty B glasses and his hair permed up like a blue bush on his head. Poppy screamed at the sight of it.
"Look at you! You were so cute! I love it!" she said, sobbing and laughing. Branch, however, never felt more humiliated.
"And I thought having giant purple eyes looked weird," Willow muttered.
"Uh, but we had to pull the plug when he tried to frost his perm," John Dory added.
Synth laughed. "That must've been wack, yo!"
"It was an era!" Branch shouted defensively.
"Tragic," John Dory said while Poppy and Synth kept laughing. Flower and Willow just gave each other confused looks.
"While you guys are strolling down memory lane, I'll work on finding Spruce," Branch huffed, and returned his gaze to the clue board.
"I'm gonna need copies of that pic," Poppy whispered to John Dory. "Wallet size!"
"Listen, baby brother," John Dory said, "we don't need your little board to find Spruce..."
"It's not little!"
"... because I got this!" he finished, holding up a postcard with a picture of a tropical island on it. "Ha! Booyah!"
"A postcard that says, 'Wish you were here?'" Branch said in skepticism. "That's it? It's not even signed."
"It's definitely Spruce," John Dory replied with certainty. "I mean, he's the only one I know who talks that way."
"There's no return address. It's blank!" Branch pointed out. "This could be from anywhere! We can't find Spruce with this!"
"Yeah, we can!" Poppy said with confidence. "All we have to do is find this sunset!"
"Liking that optimism, Poppy seed!" John Dory said as Branch stormed off with the postcard. "Branch, one word: keeper!"
"Hey, man, I know about being treated like a baby," Tiny said to Branch, holding up a piece of candy in the shape of a pacifier. "But while it's just the two of us, you want some of this?"
"Nah," Branch replied. "Thanks, man. I-I can't get back on that train."
"Suit yourself," Tiny shrugged, putting the binky in his mouth and sucking away on it.
Flower stumbled a bit as she attempted to follow her father to the front of the van, so Synth helped her up and carried her to him all the way to the driver seat.
"Hi, Daddy," she greeted, reaching out to hug him.
"Hey, sprout," Branch said with a smile.
"Everything alright, Dubstep?" Synth asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Branch insisted. "It's just... I mean, hey, look at this! We're never gonna find Spruce with this! I bet this sunset doesn't even exist!"
"Actually, bro, there are three things you should probably know," Synth refuted.
Branch groaned. "What?"
"Number one: the place I used to work at had a sunset just like this one," Synth began. "Number two: this Heartthrob brother of yours looks kinda like a young, ripped version of my old boss."
"You alweady knows Uncle Spwuce?" Flower asked.
"I guess I do," he admitted.
"Why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Branch said in a hushed, angry tone.
"Why didn't you ask?"
"What's the third thing?" Tiny wondered.
"The sunset's right over there," Synth answered, pointed at a sun setting over a distant tropical island with the words "Wish you were here!" etched into the sky, just like in the postcard.
"Oh, hot dog!" Tiny Diamond exclaimed.
"Aw, man. Of course," Branch groaned, holding up the postcard. "Hey, guys! You're gonna wanna see this."
Poppy, John Dory, and Willow ran up to the driver's seat and quickly noticed the sunset.
"I knew we'd find it!" Poppy said, giving John Dory a high five. "Spruce must be on that island!"
"Oh, he's definitely on that island," Synth confirmed.
"Synth used to work for him," Flower revealed.
"And you're just telling us this now?!" Willow shouted.
"Hey, at least I said it before we actually found him," Synth replied defensively. John Dory, on the other hand, was more focused on getting back in the driver's seat and spun it around, flinging Tiny out and into Branch's hand, before sitting down himself.
"Whoa! Easy there, Goggles!" Tiny exclaimed.
"Alright, y'all!" John Dory said. "Let's mobilize!"
"Yeah, pedal to the metal, JD!" Poppy agreed as Rhonda began running towards the edge of a cliff.
"What are you doing?!" Branch exclaimed.
"Given that we're about to go off a cliff and fall into the ocean," Willow said, "I'd say he was trying to kill us!"
"Worry not, friends! Rhonda here's completely waterproof!" John Dory reassured them before she jumped off the cliff. All seven Trolls screamed as they fell down, down, down, into the water.
SPLASH!
💚🩵💜🩵💛🩵🩷🩵💙🩵
After some brief consideration, Synth used his water powers to conjure a wave strong enough to wash Rhonda up to the shore of the island, just outside of a lush, green jungle. The door opened up and all of Rhonda's passengers poured out in a wet, salty mess.
"Good old Rhonda. Completely waterproof, huh?" Branch said with a sarcastic pant as the rest of the group coughed out water. John Dory didn't say anything. He just made a kissy face at his armadillo van, who sweetly wagged her tail at him.
"You really worked for Spruce, Synth?" Willow asked with skepticism.
"Well, I don't really know any other fine-looking Pop Trolls with purple hair," Synth admitted. "So... yeah."
"Do you know where on the island we can find him?" Branch asked.
"Sure, he's in town on the other side of this jungle," he replied. "The only way there is straight through."
"Straight through, it is!" John Dory said, pulling out a machete as he headed into the jungle.
"And, uh, how fine does he look?" Poppy asked, hoping to get a good description of BroZone's pretty boy.
"Pops, your boy's right here," Willow whispered, gesturing to Branch.
"I'm just curious!" Poppy insisted before going after John Dory with Flower in her arms. The rest of the group trailed right behind them. "So, um, John Dory, who wrote that song, 'Girl, I Love Your Love, Girl?'"
"I did," he answered, slicing through the plants with his machete.
"Cool!" Poppy giggled. "Who wrote, um, 'Girl, You Break My Heart, Girl?'"
"I did."
"So cool! Who wrote, 'Girl, I Love Your Love, Girl, You Break My Heart, Girl, I Still Love You, But I Seriously Think We Should Have A Talk About Our Relationship, Girl?'"
John Dory paused for a moment before saying, "Oh, that was Branch."
"Shut up!" Poppy exclaimed, looking over at Branch. "That was my favorite BroZone song, like, ever!"
"JK, also me!" John Dory laughed as they carried on. "Branch has never written a song."
"I was a baby," Branch pointed out. "What did you want me to write about, diaper rash?"
"Haven't heard one of those before," Willow muttered sarcastically. Growing up with fourteen little brothers and sisters, she had been exposed to it all.
"Okay, take it easy, Bitty B," John Dory said as he slid down a path on a green pool raft. Branch just grumbled as he sat on his own raft with Flower in his lap.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Poppy asked with concern while Willow and Synth had already started sliding down.
"Nothing. Super happy. This is our most fun mission yet. Yay!" Branch replied bitterly before sliding down.
"Keep it steadies," Flower muttered as Branch held onto her.
"Branch, do you know how lucky you are?" Poppy said, sliding after him. "A brother is a friend who can never leave you, it's the strongest bond in the world! I would kill to have a sibling to sing with, Branch!"
Branch let out a fake laugh as their paths stopped. "Yeah? Well, you can have mine."
"Okay, fine," Poppy huffed before heading off to rejoin the group.
"Poppy, wait," Branch called out, but it was too late.
"You needs to open up to her," Flower pointed out as she followed her mommy and the others. Tiny Diamond slid down right next to Branch.
"Grown-up stuff, am I right?" he chuckled before pulling out the binky. "You know, I still got that thing, if you want it."
"Whoa! Whoa! Don't be waving that thing around!" Branch said quietly as he shoved it into Tiny's mouth, trying to make it not look conspicuous.
"Aren't you coming, Branchero?" Willow called out. "We're losing daylight!"
"Which is kind of a drag in a place with the prettiest sunset ever," Synth pointed out.
"I'm right behind you," Branch replied. "Synth, how much further till we get into this town?"
"Shouldn't be too far," Synth answered. "Then again, this is my first time going through the jungle. I was still living in Techno Reef, so I basically always arrived on the other side of the island."
Willow sighed. "Great. And, uh, is there a reason why you no longer work here?"
I, uh... swallowed a bunch of triple maximum fuego hot sauce and... burped a fireball on a customer's face, Synth answered mentally. But out loud, he just said, "We don't have much time to save Floyd. Let's get moving."
"Alright, y'all," John Dory said. "We're getting close to something! I can feel it!"
At that moment, John Dory accidentally bumped into something soft and orange. Falling backwards, he looked up and found that what he hit had a giant white face! The Pop Trolls backed away in fear, but not Synth.
"Whoa, what do we got here?" the tall, moustached creature said before looking back down. "Hey, guys! Looks like I found some fellow rock-climbers!"
"Hi!" Poppy said to the other creatures climbing up the cliff.
"Hey, guys!" Synth greeted. "I brought some friends I want y'all to meet!"
The rock climbing instructor smiled at them and said, "Welcome to Vacay Island! Where everyday is a vacay!"
Sorry this took so long. Now that I have nothing else to do, you may not have to wait too long for the next chapter.
I'll see you next time. 🌈